“He is a healthy bundle of joy who has brought so much happiness into our home,” Tamiah Brevard-Rodriguez tells PEOPLE

Tamiah Brevard-Rodriguez and baby Enzo. PHOTO: NICK ROMANENKO/RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Tamiah Brevard-Rodriguez had a plan, but her son had another, which is how she ended up defending her doctoral dissertation and giving birth all in one day.

“Although it’s been a whirlwind, baby Enzo and I are doing very well,” Brevard-Rodriguez tells PEOPLE in a statement. “He is a healthy bundle of joy who has brought so much happiness into our home.”

The Rutgers-New Brunswick Graduate School of Education student, who’s also the director of the school’s Aresty Research Center, felt “off” the night before she was expected to defend her dissertation presentation, according to the university. Then, early in the morning of March 25, her water broke.

“My wife is trying to keep me calm, and telling me that maybe we have time, because now I’m physically shaking. I’m about to have a baby on the biggest day,” she told school officials. “I tried to lay down. And then I was like, no, I’m in active labor. This baby’s coming today.”

She thought she had some time before delivery, but before she knew it, Brevard-Rodriguez — who is also mom to a 4-year-old daughter — realized her son was crowning.

And it turned out baby Enzo really couldn’t wait because she gave birth on the way to the hospital in the front seat of her wife’s car. “She’s going like 120 mph and didn’t get a chance to pull over,” she told officials. “In three pushes, he was in my arms.”

And after welcoming her son four weeks early, the mom said she felt prepared enough to go ahead and defend her dissertation from the hospital about seven hours later.

“I told my wife, go get me some clothes, my laptop, and bring the charger,” she recalled.

(From L-R) Alyza Brevard-Rodriguez, holding baby Enzo while Tamiah Brevard-Rodriguez preps to defend her dissertation. COURTESY OF TAMIAH BREVARD-RODRIGUEZ

As for what’s next, Brevard-Rodriguez will face another big double day — albeit one’s that’s hopefully less stressful — celebrating Mother’s Day and her graduation on Sunday, May 12.

“I am excited to officially graduate on Mother’s Day and even more excited to see what the future holds professionally,” she tells PEOPLE. “But right now, I’m just looking forward to the remaining months of my maternity leave with my beautiful family.”